Meet Monty

 I've been working on updating and restarting my blog ready to take it in a more personal direction and it can grow with me. I realised when going through some of my old posts that I haven't really 'official' introduced my dog in the way I want to; so here it is! 

Anyone that knows me, knows that my dog is my life. I can imagine that the way I love him is similar to that of a parent and their child. I've longed all my life for a dog, when on family walks as a child I would pretend I had an imaginary dog (this is how much I wanted one) and I was always asking my parents for dog leads and collars so that I could put them on my stuffed animals. The closest thing I had to a dog when I was small was when I would clip my dog lead onto my Grandad's belt loop and he would crawl on the floor pretending to be my dog (best Grandad award goes to him btw). 

So my love for dogs has always been very strong and when, in 2014, my Dad finally agreed to let me get a puppy I was thrilled. We were in Yorkshire for the weekend visiting my Grandparents and so I frantically searched all the ads on the Pets4Homes website for Cocker Spaniel puppies for sale between Yorkshire and Cornwall. 

How we chose the breed of dog;
I had always discussed types of dog breeds that I liked and the pros and cons of each and so I would be ready for if the moment ever came. So when it did I knew that the temperament, size and needs of Working Type Cocker Spaniels would be perfect for us!

Male or Female?
The same as the breed, we had always said that we would want a male dog. For many reasons but the main was that fact that we knew if we had a female dog that we would need to have her neutered in order to be sure she wouldn't have puppies and reduce the chance of her running off. I did a lot of research on this just to be sure we were making the right choice and a lot of studies stated that male dogs form stronger bonds with their human families as they are not as driven by their hormones. We also liked that the male cockers filled out and became strong, healthy looking bouncy dogs. 

Choosing the litter;
 I have watched and read about so many stories of puppy farming and all the dangers of buying a puppy online and so I knew that I wanted to see the puppies in a family home with the parents and ensure they were from a loving home. We rang several of the adverts and Monty's litter was actually the last we rang. We spoke to a lovely lady who kindly reserved the male puppies for us to view. 

Picking our puppy;
 The moment I have waited for my whole life happened so fast, from buying the bed and accessories to walking into the kitchen and seeing the tiniest puppies I've ever seen, it was all amazing. There were 5 puppies in the litter, 3 boys, 2 girls. A black boy and girl, a golden boy and girl and then one lemon boy which had already been sold. We had gone there wanting a golden boy but once there, my Dad looked at me and said "I like the black male puppy" and that was it. He was sitting further back from the naughty puppies that were chewing my shoe laces and my Mum's bag and just watching us. I picked him up and he lovingly licked my chin and then fell right to sleep on my chest, so I knew that he was my puppy. 

Getting Monty was the one of the very best things that has happened to me and I would never want to be without him, he has brought so much to our family and made us even closer. We never think of his as 'just our dog' he is another member of our family and he has fitted in so perfectly. 

I will be starting a series of posts that will be up every Monday all about Monty, his life and all things to do with him! It will also be about my experiences and things I have learnt that I want to share. So here's to Monty Mondays and have a great week!